tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post806834320348984029..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: The NEA and DemocracyDarrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-13242915200267448072007-08-01T13:57:00.000-07:002007-08-01T13:57:00.000-07:00bmatt, I appreciate your comments. However, you m...bmatt, I appreciate your comments. However, you make a common (union) statement that I must address: that I *should* pay an agency fee because I receive a majority of benefits of membership without being a member. <BR/><BR/>Pardon my bluntness, but says who? <BR/><BR/>I liken the agency fee situation to someone coming to my house, painting it, and then telling me I have to pay them for the service! Yes, I get the benefit of the painted house (if I like the color, and if they did a good job painting) but I didn't *want* my house painted. Or, I'm forced to get into the NEA taxi, which takes me places I don't want to go--and then I'm a "free rider" when I don't want to pay! I'm not a "free rider", I'm a "forced rider".<BR/><BR/>What benefits do you think the union offers me that I couldn't negotiate for myself--especially as a credentialed math teacher with a math degree? The NEA must not think too highly of its members if it thinks only a union can negotiate decent contracts for teachers.<BR/><BR/>The biggest issue for me is the compulsion. My freedom of association is abridged when I'm compelled by the state to give my money to a private entity I don't want to support. It's un-American.<BR/><BR/>It's clear I don't agree with you on the union issue--and just so you know, I used to be a union rep at school--and I appreciate the calm and reasoned way you made your points here. I hope you'll come back and comment again.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-19580972227622113532007-08-01T13:13:00.000-07:002007-08-01T13:13:00.000-07:00A very interesting analysis. I'm an extremely act...A very interesting analysis. I'm an extremely active member of my NEA local, and believe it or not, I think you make some valid points. To be honest, though, I've never found a group, association, or organization that I agree 100% with - but it doesn't necessarily stop me from being active or involved. I'm politically moderate, with a strong Christian faith, and a union advocate and activist - I guess an oxymoron to some.<BR/><BR/>From the sounds of this and some of the comments, though, the issue is not so much about having to be a member or not. I think it's more about what being a fair-share/fee-payer means. Does it mean you are forced to be part of a group you disagree with? I can see how some would feel that way. Although I think a decent argument can be made that being a fee-payer makes sense in that you are receiving a majority of the benefits of membership, but without having to be a member.<BR/><BR/>Certainly there are other issues you brought up, good issues at that. But of course we'll never address all those issues here. I do appreciate your thoughts and think it's important for any group, NEA included, to have an open ear to its membership - it is after all supposed to exist for its members.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-76395884986450559612007-08-01T06:03:00.000-07:002007-08-01T06:03:00.000-07:00Go, Darren, go!While I don't share your party beli...Go, Darren, go!<BR/><BR/>While I don't share your party beliefs, I am 100% behind your analysis of the "U-bots." I, too, am a fees-payer. <BR/><BR/>The whole "closed shop" idea irks me. If workers have the right to free assembly---why don't they also have the right to choose not to participate in the assembly? I do not find that the Union party line reflects my values as an educator and yet I am forced to be part of their group. How democratic is that?The Science Goddesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02846516022505481326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-82499020039401692712007-07-29T13:09:00.000-07:002007-07-29T13:09:00.000-07:00Great article.....do you think the NEA and CTA fol...Great article.....do you think the NEA and CTA folks can understand and comprehend it ? I doubt it.Dan Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13397636504405471939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-23064749816930074972007-07-28T23:20:00.000-07:002007-07-28T23:20:00.000-07:00Great analysis. While not a teacher, I did work i...Great analysis. While not a teacher, I did work in a union shop for all of two months (all I could stand). It was easily the worst work experience of my life. The union employees were coddled and babied beyond imagination, leaving the nonunion employees to get screwed again, and again, and again. I was nonunion but I could see this process at work constantly. That was yet one reason I bailed on that place so fast...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-24037380247167375412007-07-28T20:23:00.000-07:002007-07-28T20:23:00.000-07:00I, too, am a teacher. I'm on the right on the rig...I, too, am a teacher. I'm on the right on the right coast. I joined NEA/GEA last year because PAGE just didn't seem to be doing enough for the teacher, they appeared to focus on administrators. Thanks for this information and for all you do!hepsmomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10860329622779522714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-36300297723812073992007-07-28T17:57:00.000-07:002007-07-28T17:57:00.000-07:00Very impressive analysis. I agree that unions are ...Very impressive analysis. I agree that unions are quite simply the most anti-democratic institutions in America today. The leftist leanings of unions are well documented. The objectionable aspect of unions isn't their leftism, it's their intolerance of dissent and ability to compel membership in complicity with their fellow travelers the Democrats.Law and Order Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11069306257334186404noreply@blogger.com